Kollam (Kerala), Mar 24 (PTI) The alleged attack on United Democratic Front (UDF) MPs from Kerala on Thursday morning by the police in Delhi was termed by the Congress party as unfortunate and a blow to democracy.

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KPCC president and MP K Sudhakaran as well as Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan flayed the alleged attack.

At a press conference here, Satheesan said the attack took place during the protest by the MPs against the proposed semi-high-speed rail Silverline project.

He claimed a conspiracy behind the attack and said it should be investigated.

The LoP said the MPs were attacked and manhandled while Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his support to the SilverLine and other projects in the southern State.

Sudhakaran, in a statement, said the attack was a heavy blow to the face of democracy and demanded an explanation from the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister.

A march was also taken out in the State capital by several Congressmen, including M M Hassan and Jeby Mather, against the attack.

The Delhi police denied the allegations by saying its personnel did not manhandle any parliamentarian.

The police said, "A few people came to the north fountain barricade point from the media lawn shouting in Malayalam. They were stopped by the staff at the barricade. They claimed to be MPs and continued shouting. They were asked to show IDs which they denied. Meanwhile, the staff from security picket of the gate number one of Parliament were called to identify the MPs.

"The staff came and identified the MPs and they were then allowed to go forward. There was no manhandling of any MP. The staff at the barricade only tried to stop as they were shouting and moving towards Parliament without revealing their identity," they said.

The issue was later raised in the Lok Sabha soon after the Question Hour by the Congress MPs from Kerala.

After hearing them, the Speaker Om Birla said he would discuss the matter with them and then speak to the officers concerned. PTI

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)